Hun boys soccer wins first five
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Mark Nicholas has big aspirations for a young Hun School boys soccer team.
”This year, I want to win counties,” said the junior defender. “We didn’t have a chance to play in them last year. Together, we just want to do well.”
Nicholas has helped the Raiders got off to a promising start. Their 1-0 win over neighboring Princeton Day School on Thursday was their fourth straight victory to start the year, all of them decided by one goal. Two of the Raider wins have come in overtime.
”Conditioning has been helping us a lot,” said Hun head coach Pat Quirk. “It’s one of the keys that we started talking about when we first came into preseason. We said no one’s going to out-hustle us and no one is going to be better conditioned than us. Just the hard work they’ve put in has been a huge key in not letting in those late goals they could possibly give up, and finishing opportunities.”
The Raiders didn’t score until the 15th minute of the second half Thursday when Venezuelan post-graduate Niko Bolivar followed Chris Caputo’s header off the crossbar to knock in the only goal that got by PDS goalie Jacob Eisenberg. The Hun defense played a big role in ensuring that goalie Jeff Kaminski did not have to make a single save against PDS.
”I’m proud of everyone,” Nicholas said. “We came together in the beginning not knowing how we’d be because it’s a young team. We’ve done well. We’ve come together well.
”Sure, I miss all the older guys, but I’m proud of the younger guys coming up and doing well.”
Nicholas is in his third year on the varsity. Last year, he was part of the team with his older brother Thomas, who graduated after Hun went 8-10-1. Two years ago, Nicholas was a freshmen when Hun lost in the semifinals of the Mercer County Tournament. The Raiders won it in 2006.
”He’s a leader in the back and he’s not afraid to be vocal and tell guys what to do,” said Quirk, whose team improved to 5-0 with a 1-0 win over visiting Penn Charter on Saturday on a goal that Nicholas deposited from 35 yards out on a free kick. “We don’t have true captains this year, but he’s definitely the captain of the defense. He sort of controls it back there. He’s always calm and collected.”
That steadiness is needed on a team filled with youth. Hun has just five seniors on its roster and only two played Thursday. Despite the youth, there is experience among the team. Connor Marino and Nicholas are the deepest of four backs with Brian Patriarca on the right and Chris Leach on the left. All are juniors.
”This is basically the back four we have from last year so we all know each other and we try to swing it around the back as much as we can,” Nicholas said. “We didn’t do it as well as we usually do today, but usually it works out well. We play together well.”
Quirk was happy to see the way his team reacted to their goal against PDS. Coaches always worry about a letdown in the five minutes that follow a score, and Quirk had seen it happen to his team against Mercersburg, but the Raiders did not let up to finish off the shutout.
”That was good,” Quirk said. “That’s something we’ve been talking about. We’ve been scoring, but then letting up goals pretty close back-to-back. It was nice to score a goal and not relax.
”We’re giving up too many opportunities late for some reason. But we have gotten rid of the goal that comes right back that can haunt us.”
Nicholas credited the shutout to the Raiders’ commitment to defense. They know they can be an even more dangerous team if they get the defense they saw in Thursday’s win plus capitalize on more of their scoring opportunities.
”I think we can still be finishing better inside the box, but that’s gotten a lot better,” Nicholas said. “That was one of our problems last year. This year, we seem to score all our goals within the box.
”With a good core of guys, from Julian Plummer and Frankie (Villaverde) up top, we can find and play off them and that’s what we do well. We keep the ball.”
Villaverde looked dangerous up top on several runs, and had a well-placed direct kick from 30 yards away tipped out by PDS’ Eisenberg, who finished with five saves. But the Raiders attack couldn’t be held off forever.
”I knew it was going to come,” Quirk said. “We’ve been talking about it all year. The more persistent we get, the more goals we’re going to get.”
The Raiders may be young overall, but they’re gaining valuable experience and confidence with so many close wins to start.
”That’s exciting,” Nicholas said. “As a center back, it’s probably my fault if they score. It’s good that we come back and don’t give up.
”Last year was either hit or miss. This year, it’s been close. People are showing up to games and it’s been good.”